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No threat to Indian students, says Australia

Allying fears of any possible threat to Indian students enrolling in its universities, Australia today made it clear that it has taken elaborate steps to ensure their safety.

At a function here to mark signing of seven memoranda of understanding between educational institutes of India and the Australian state of Victoria, its premier Ted Baillieu said initiatives have been taken to enhance security of Indian students in Australia after the 2010 incidents.

The issue has been taken very seriously. Several security and protective steps have been taken and we are ensuring greater presence of police. Additional powers have been given to the police and a significant number of CCTV cameras have been installed to keep a strict vigil, Baillieu said.

He brushed aside apprehensions that the rising value of Australian dollar against the Indian rupee will hamper the traffic of Indian students as Indians always prefer to invest on quality education.

Baillieu said Melbourne has been ranked as the fourth best livable city on the globe by the London-based QS Organisation, establishing the fact that it has world-class infrastructure that holds the potential of attracting even more and more number of students.

He also awarded seven out of 10 Indian students with the Victorian Indian Doctoral Scholarship for cutting-edge research in various fields of education.

Seven MoUs were signed between educational institutes of India and the state of Victoria as part of collaborations to nurture exceptional talents and contribute to skill development.

These collaborations show Victoria and India's commitment to working together to nurture these partnerships in the educational sector, Baillieu said.

The MoUs were signed between Deakin University and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore, La Trobe University and the Birla Institute of Science and Technology (BITS), Pilani, University of Birmingham, University of Melbourne and the Delhi University, Swinburne University and the AutoCRC Jaypee University of Information Technology, La Trobe University and the HCL,
University of Melbourne and University of Calcutta and between Victoria University and Ganpat University.

A delegation of representatives of eight universities and six vice-chancellors from Victoria's most prestigious universities is in India in this regard.
He also announced that from 2013, the Victorian administration will give additional 10 Ph.D Scholarships and also constitute Victorian International Educational Awards to honour the pioneers of educational research.

He said the existing Victoria-India Vocational Training Programme will be expanded as part of the skill development initiative.